Why Commodore should have ruled the world.
Of all the computer manufactures, Commodore has probably made the most significant impact on the industry and many gamers have never heard of them. Commodore Business Machines was founded in Toronto, Canada in 1962.
Like many computer companies they began by making calculators. They also invented the first pocket calculator. The company launched several home computer systems but the major success was the Commodore 64 in 1982. After the company’s success, they purchased Amiga Computers. The Amiga computer is, at this point in technological history, the best selling home computer.
Considering the amazing systems Commodore produced, it seems the company’s business decisions were not ( amazing. ) Consequently, on Friday, April 29 at 4:10 P.M., Commodore filed for liquidation. Commodore may be gone but the impact they made on the industry remains. Truly, they are the company that did not produce computers strictly for businesses. The home computer became a reality for the general public.
The Commodore 64 was the first computer I ever owned. It made the Apple IIE’s we where using at school look pathetic. The sound and graphic chip sets were simply amazing, given the technological time period. Then I switched to an Amiga 600. This machine was AWESOME! It made my IBM owning friends quite jealous. Of course I didn’t have a harddrive back then, and the O.S. loaded off floppies every time I wanted to use it. It was only two to three floppies but annoying none the less. The O.S. was worlds ahead of what Microsoft, IBM, and Apple where doing at the time. Had Commodore played their cards right they could currently be where Microsoft is today. Unfortunately, bad business decision after bad business decision caught up with the company. It was mind boggling to watch. How could a company make such amazing products and yet not know how to effectively market those products?
By the early 1990’s I had amassed a collection of around 300 Commodore 64 games (if I remember correctly.) A player could get some great games for free. If a person subscribed to publications such as Computer’s Gazette, he/she actually got games with every magazine. The only problem was typing all the code in to get the game/s .That’s right- every magazine came with pages and pages of binary code. All the gamer needed to do was type in that code. It was not uncommon to work 16+ hours of typing. None the less, many classic games came out of the Commodore era.
Today there is still a huge Commodore following, and there are many emulators for the system. Just google Commodore 64 emulators and see what I mean. If you have the time and want to see a part of gaming history, I recommend playing a few Commodore games, here are some links to a great emulator: http://www.computerbrains.com/ccs64/ and
http://www.c64.com/ for more information. Commodore…….ahh the memories.